What you don't know won't hurt you, or so they say
by Bodge
Summary: Any summary would just give the plot away. Read it and find out.
1. Chapter 1

"Stupid" she muttered, "stupid, stupid, stupid". She sat twirling the small packet between her thumb and forefinger against the edge of the table. She'd been taking the small white pill religiously, every morning since she was 14, that was over half her life, half her life in which she'd woken up, dressed, eaten her breakfast, taken her pill, cleaned her teeth and left the house. So why now, more than 18 years after she took her first pill, why on this gloomy Wednesday morning, had she just swallowed Tuesday's pill? She tried to remember not taking it, but her mind kept focusing on the night she'd spent with a colleague, a night that had started in the very room she sat in now. She was interrupted by the same colleague bursting into the staffroom, "RTA, coach vs concrete wall, eta 5 minutes." She nodded, "I'll be out in a minute" she pushed the pills back into her locker, before forcing her worries to the back of her head and stepping out onto the ward.

"Your shift finished hours ago" he told her, resting a hand on her shoulder as she hunched over a pile of notes. "It did" she told him, shrugging his handoff her, "but the patients don't treat themselves and similarly these notes don't write themselves. "I'll do them" he told her, "you go home". She shook her head, "I've almost finished" he raised an eyebrow at the pile of folders under the one she was writing on. "Come on" he told her, "I bet you're exhausted". She shook her head, "I'm fine" she told him coldly, she'd let him see a more vulnerable side to her he night she'd slept with him, and she wasn't going to let that happen again. He shrugged his shoulders, muttering something about trying to help before walking off and leaving her in peace.

She didn't look up as she felt someone walk up behind her and place something on the desk beside the files she was working on a good 20 minutes later. "Here" it was him again, "you could be here for a while if you're not going to let anyone help you, and I know you've definitely not eaten in the past..." he glanced at the clock "9 hours, and I doubt you had time to eat in the 10 minutes you had of your break". She nodded in acknowledgement, even managing a small smile, and he walked away before she had chance to reply.

She opened the brown paper bag, lifting out the greasy burger and fries she smiled before picking the packets of sugar and tiny cartons of milk from the bag, stirring them into the coffee and beginning to eat.

She managed to push her worries about her missed pill to the back of her mind, and was relieved, when 9 days after she'd noticed she'd missed a pill, she began to feel a familiar cramping in her lower back, and she settled down on her sofa with a hot water bottle, a fleecy blanket, a large pile of romcoms and a family sized bar of dairy milk.

The weeks soon passed, and she'd completely forgotten about her missed pill. She put her hand on her stomach and closed her eyes, swallowing hard as she felt her stomach churn, cursing herself for eating that chicken, she knew it had been out of the freezer for far too long, but she was too tired to cook anything else.

Feeling her stomach churn again she quickly stood from where she was sat, rushing into the ladies before throwing up neatly into the toilet. She stood to her feet once she was sure her stomach was empty, flushing the toilet and turning to wash her hands. She jumped slightly as she saw a figure stood by the door, but ignored him as she first washed her hands, and then rinsed her mouth out.

"Are you okay?" he asked, watching her pale again as she clutched onto the sink. "This is the ladies toilet" she said sharply. He nodded, "for women" she repeated, "and the last time I..." she froze, clasping a hand over her mouth, and rushing back into a cubicle. "Let me give you the once over, find out what's wrong with you" "What's wrong with me" she snapped "is that SOMEONE won't leave me alone". "For God's sake" he snapped too, "you said it's easier for you to fix other people than yourself, so let someone else take care of you for once and stop being so bloody stubborn." She sighed, "I'm fine, probably just something I ate" "Let me check you over, make sure that's all it is." She shook her head, "Really" she stood from where she'd been knelt over the toilet, "I'll be fine, you need to check on Mrs Dobbs." He nodded knowing she'd never change her mind, "I'll erm ... he gestured to the door, "let me know if you think you're getting worse" she nodded and he left her in peace.


	2. Chapter 2

"All right?" he asked as she emerged from the ladies almost twenty minutes later. She nodded, sitting heavily in a chair as she felt her stomach churn again. "Are you sure?" he crouched down in front of her, "you still look pale" "I'm fine" she snapped. Standing to her feet, leaning on the wall for support as the room began to spin. "Look, let me..." "No" she cut in. "I'm fine, I don't need your help. Now if you don't mind I'm due in theatre." "Need a hand?" "I've got all the staff I need, what I don't need is you getting in my way." She took a deep breath, steadying herself for a minute before walking in the direction of the theatres.

Several months passed, months in which she gained a promotion, and the extra workload that came hand in hand with the increased pay. Several months passed in which he became increasingly worried about her, the extra work meaning she'd barely had time to blink, let alone eat, and had consequently lost a lot of weight that she didn't have to loose in the first place. He'd not even bothered to voice his concerns, knowing she'd throw it all back in his face. He'd tried taking her a sandwich during the busiest shifts, but they were usually left uneaten on the desk.

She sat in her office, her diary open on the desk in front of her. Tapping her pen on the paper she couldn't help but panic. She took a deep breath, "you've been stressed" she told herself, "you've lost weight" "you're not..." She shook her head, no matter how much she tried to convince herself that there was a simple reason for her missing three periods, she couldn't help but keep thinking back to the pill she missed several months ago.

Almost another week passed before she decided to put her mind at rest, and show herself that she wasn't pregnant. "shit, shit, shit, shit, shit". She banged her head against wall as the second blue line began to stare up at her. She couldn't be. It must be a faulty test. The several other tests in the bin however all telling her the same made her realise that it wasn't a faulty test. She was pregnant, but there was no way she was going to be a mother. She couldn't, she wasn't good with other people. She was on her own and things worked fine that way, there was no one to let her down, and no one to get in her way.

Wrapping her dressing gown tighter around her body, she padded softly along the landing and down the stairs, grabbing the phone book and the phone, she curled up on the sofa, making an appointment at a clinic for her day off the following week.

She sat on a bench in the park, her coat pulled tightly around her body, she didn't notice the rain drops that had began to fall from the sky get bigger, mixing with the tears rolling down her cheeks. Her appointment at the clinic had been unsuccessful, a scan determining she was almost 23 weeks pregnant, more than half way towards her due date, no clinic in the country would perform an abortion on her. Now she was at a loss as to what to do next.

She stepped from the shower, catching self of herself in the full length mirror before she'd had chance to wrap herself in the towel warming on the radiator. She bit her lip, water running down her body and pooling by her feet as she ran her hands over her stomach, she'd not noticed before but there was a definite curve that she'd hardly noticed. She'd spent the afternoon reading pregnancy forums, and had discovered her baby, because that's what it was now, weighed around 500 grams, and was about 29cm long, and seeing her almost completely flat stomach, she couldn't help but wonder where it was hiding.

Careful dressing meant that the only person aware of her pregnancy was Jayne Grayson, and that was only because she'd had to sort out her maternity leave. She'd decided against adoption, deciding that she'd give the child the love and support she'd never received in her own childhood. It would just be her and her baby, they didn't need anyone else, especially not the baby's father. If she was doing this, she was doing it alone.

She was surprised at how easy it had been to hide her pregnancy, although she was glad she only had three more shifts to work, before her maternity leave started, 10 hour shifts were exhausting her, not that she'd let anyone else know that, she didn't want them to think she was weak. She gasped as she felt her stomach tightening, waiting until it had passed before standing from the chair and leaving the ward.

She slammed the cubicle door shut, leaning heavily against it, she took a deep breath and began to rub her stomach. She failed to stifle a groan, collapsing onto the toilet seat as her stomach tightened again "please" she whispered to her unborn child, "not now"


	3. Chapter 3

"Penny, you seen Jac?" "Yeah, just went into the ladies, why?" "got a patient on AAU, could do with her expertise" Oli stood by the nurses station for a while waiting for Jac, "Are you sure she's not in theatre or something?" Penny shook her head, "No, she was going in as I came out like a minute before you came up". Oli looked puzzled, "Go in there Pen, make sure she's okay" "she won't want me interfering if she's not, she hates me" "Think of it as a way to get into her good books." Penny raised an eyebrow and Oliver sighed, walking towards the toilets. "Oli" Penny shouted, "you can't go in there" "Why not?" "It's the ladies" "someone needs to check on her, she's been in there for 15 minutes". He reached out to push the door open and Penny sighed, "Okay, okay, I'll do it"

"Ms Naylor" she called quietly, stepping into the toilets. " Ms Naylor, Jac, are you okay? Can you hear me?" she asked noticing a figure slumped against the door of the end cubical. Jac took a deep breath, "I'm" she paused, "I'm fine" "you don't sound fine" "I've just, erm" she tried to think of a good excuse, "I'm fine." Penny wasn't convinced, "if you're sure." Jac nodded, "I'm sure" Penny nodded, "I'll erm, see you on the ward then?" "Actually, I think I'm going to go home, there's only an hour of my shift left" "But you'll be okay?" Jac nodded, "I'll be fine".

"So?" Oliver asked, shifting from one foot to the other nervously, "she says she's fine" "and is she?" Penny shrugged, "she didn't sound it, but she's taking the rest of the afternoon off, you should get back to work Ol" he nodded, turning to walk from the ward, pausing once he'd got through the double doors, waiting for Jac to come out of the toilets.

"Are you okay?" he asked, seeing her finally emerge. "Fine" she told him, keeping 2 steps ahead of him as she collected her belongings from her office, and left the hospital. "Jac" he called, "if you need anything" he froze as she yelped slightly, grasping her stomach, his eyes drawn to the wet patch appearing between her legs, "are you?" he asked. Jac said nothing, quickly turning and walking to her car.

He banged on the window, stopping her from driving out of the car park, "you can't seriously be thinking about driving, please, let me" She sighed, nodding slowly, and moved into the passenger seat.

"You can wait for a taxi and then you can go" she said sharply as her directions lead him to her house, "but you're, you can't do this on your own" "I won't be on my own" she told him, "I'm going to get changed, get my bag and then get a taxi to St James'." They sat in silence for a minute before Oli spoke, "Jac. Is it, is it mine?" Jac said nothing, grabbing her bag from the back seat she got out of the car. "Thanks for driving me home". She said, before shutting the car door and going into her house, locking the door behind her.

Oliver sat in Jac's car holding his head in his hands for a while before pulling his phone from his pocket, and dialling his sister's number, "Where the hell are you Oli? Linden's been going mental" "She's in labour Penny, I think it's mine." Penny almost dropped the phone in shock, "You're joking right, I mean first Chrissie, now Jac" Oliver was silent, "You're serious aren't you" "No Penny, I made it all up, I decided to go down the pub for a few instead of finishing my shift." "Where are you?" "At Jac's" "Well get off the phone and help her" "She's inside, she called me a taxi and said she'd be fine" "Delivering the baby on her own?" "She's getting a taxi to St James'" "Well then you need to get in the taxi she rang for you and get to St James' then don't you."

"What are you doing here?" Jac snapped finding Oli sat outside the Maternity department when she arrived half an hour after him, now wearing loose black sweatpants and a fitted white vest top, a large overnight bag in her hand. "I didn't want you to think you had to do this on your own" "No" she snapped, "but I'm going to".

3 hours passed before Oliver gave up and left, falling into the nearest pub, before collapsing in a crying heap on his sister's doorstep at 5am.

It was almost 36 hours later when Jac's midwife announced "it's a boy" Without anyone asking her, a wriggling blue blanket was placed in her arms, the baby not so much crying as screeching, his face red as he screamed in his mother's arms. "I think someone's hungry" the nurse said cheerfully, "is mummy going to feed you eh little man?" she asked moving towards the bed. Jac shook her head, "will you get him a bottle. I'm tired" The nurse nodded, "it's probably better to get him used to feeding sooner rather than later though." "So you better hurry up and get a bottle for him hadn't you". The nurse left the room and the midwife moved over to the bed, "does he have a name?" Jac shook her head, no, not yet". The midwife nodded and smiled, "do you want me to have a go?" she asked, the baby still screaming in Jac's arms, "shhh" the midwife cooed, rocking the baby, "what's all this noise for eh? Here we go" she cooed again as the young nurse entered the room again, "Do you want to feed him?" the midwife asked. Jac shook her head, "Will you do it? I'm tired" The midwife nodded and began to feed the baby, "We'll get him settled in the nursery" she smiled, "let you get some sleep" Jac nodded, turning her back on the midwife and her son and pulling the covers up to her chin.


	4. Chapter 4

Jac curled her knees to her chest when she woke. She began to think back to her own childhood, and quickly stood from the bed, wincing as her body protested at the sudden movements so soon after giving birth. She pulled on some loose tracksuit bottoms and a baggy t-shirt before leaving her side room. "Miss Naylor, can I help you?" a nurse asked. Jac frowned. "It's Ms Naylor, and I want to see my son." "He's in the nursery" the nurse told Jac, "I'll take you, do you want a wheelchair or can you walk?" "I'll walk". The nurse nodded, "if you want to follow me?" Jac followed the nurse through the ward to a room full of babies. "We could erm, take him back to your room if you want? Let the two of you bond in peace?" Jac shook her head, "Is he okay?" the nurse nodded, "well in that case I want to take him home." "I, erm, I" The nurse was gobsmacked, "I" Jac shook her head, "Don't stand there gawping, get a doctor and get him to discharge us." The nurse nodded. Jac slowly walked towards the plastic crib her son was in and lifted him carefully into her arms. "Right" she sighed, "We better go and get ready hadn't we".

"Ms Naylor" the doctor entered the room to find Jac packing the rest of her clothes into her bag, her son sleeping in his car seat by the bed, "I don't really think you should be discharged so soon. Jac shook her head, I've got to stay for a minimum of 6 hours, it's been almost 10. I'm fine and if he's fine then we're going home." "Don't you want to be shown how to feed him and bath him?" Jac raised an eyebrow. "I make bottle according to the instructions on the side of the formula tin. Check it's not too hot. Put bottle in baby's mouth. Baby fed. Then, then I put water in the bath, check the water isn't too hot, put baby in the bath, make sure I don't let him go under the water. I clean baby with a sponge, I take baby out of bath and dry him. Simple. Now, can we go please". The doctor sighed and rolled his eyes, "I'll need to examine you before I can discharge you, and get the paediatrician to check..." He gestured towards the baby "the baby" Jac suggested, "Right, I thought he might have a name, but I'll get the paediatrician to check him over before you go." Jac nodded, "You can check the baby, but I'm fine. " "I really should examine you before I sign your discharge papers." "Fine." Jack sighed. Get someone to check the little one over and I'll discharge myself."

"Right" Jac sighed, sitting carefully on the sofa, her son in his car seat by her feet. "What do we do now?" she asked, "I suppose we should think of a name for you shouldn't we?" She picked up the name book that laid unopened on the coffee table. Shaking her head she threw it back on the table, cursing as she woke the baby. "You're going upstairs" Jac told him, lifting him from his car seat and setting him in his crib upstairs.

Creeping back down the stairs she noticed the light on the answer machine flashing. 30 messages in little over 2 days, all but two of them from Oli. She deleted the messages and moved into the kitchen to make up some bottles for when her son decided he was hungry. She washed the few pots that were left and emptied her hospital bag, pushing the dirty clothes into the washing machine, and returning the unworn ones to either her wardrobe or the chest of drawers in her son's room. She'd just folded the last baby grow when she heard a tiny whimper from the cot. "Okay", she moved to the cot, "enough of that". She felt his nappy was full as she lifted him from the crib, "right then, we'll change this and then give you a bottle. And then I need you to be quiet for a bit because I've got things to do" she told him thinking to the pile of research papers she wanted to read through. Once he'd been changed and fed, Jac settled her son in his bouncer chair by the sofa, rocking it with her foot until his eyes began to close.

Almost twenty minutes passed before Jac realised all she was doing was staring at her son. Admitting defeat she placed the papers back onto the table and lifted the baby from the rocker, holding him awkwardly in her arms. "So then" she said, softly stroking his hand, "It's just me and you." She couldn't understand why people felt the need to use silly high pitched voices when talking to her children. "I won't ever talk like that to you" she promised, "I'm sure you'll understand me just fine." She placed him back in his bouncer, "Right" she told him, "I'm going to chose a name for you and then I really have to do some work."

The baby's cries woke Jac almost two hours later and she blinked rapidly and sat up, shaking her head as the baby name book fell off her chest. "Are you hungry again?" Jac lifted her son into her arms and carried him through to the kitchen. She smiled and shook her head as her son began to nuzzle his head against her chest. "Trying to give me a hint are you?" she asked, before commenting "you're almost as bad as your father." She placed the bottle back into the fridge and sat down on the sofa, laying her son beside her she slipped her top off completely before lifting the baby back to her chest. She'd read up on breast feeding, and so was surprised, after reading so many stories of babies struggling to latch on, or not doing so correctly and causing pain, that her son seemed to latch on perfectly at his first attempt. His eyes gazed up at her, studying her features as he fed contentedly, and Jac could almost feel herself softening. "Don't do this to me" she warned. "You've been good all day, trying to get me onside before you tried to soften me were you?" She noticed the rise in the pitch of her voice, "Oh god" she sighed, "I'm doing it, look what you're doing to me." She smiled slightly and kissed her son's nose, the first sign of affection she'd shown him since he was born, "just don't tell anyone eh".


	5. Chapter 5

"Charlie? Liam? Matthew? I like Matthew, what do you think?" Jac stroked her son's stomach as he slept beside her. "Who knows" she sighed, her son was almost four days old, and Jac still hadn't chosen a name for him. She flicked through a few pages of the book, "Luke? Luke Naylor?" She put the book down momentarily and ran her hand lightly over her son's fair hair as she laid on her side beside him, "What do you care if you're an Aaron or a Zachary?"She took a deep breath, "Right, I'm just going to open the book and point to a name, fingers crossed it's not something like Chloe" Jac laughed, closing her eyes flicking the book open and stabbing the page, "Right then. " She opened her eyes and chuckled, "Elvis. Elvis Naylor, there we are, I'll tell you one thing, at least I don't have to decide on your surname. No way are you going to be Elvis Valentine!"

Her son was now over a week old, and Jac was still calling him Elvis, "Come on" she told him as he laid happily on a play mat on the floor by the sofa, "you're not helping, what do you want me to call you?" She sighed, "If I choose a name and you grow up hating it, don't blame me, you were the one that failed to come with a name tag". Frustrated at her failure to choose a name for her son Jac picked her son from the floor, feeding him and changing his nappy before laying him in his pushchair and covering him with a thin blanket. "I know you're sorted" she told him as she put her shoes on, "but I'm fast running out of food, seeing as someone decided to put in an early appearance".

Jac couldn't help but smile as she glanced down into the buggy, only to find her son gazing up at her, studying her features. "What are you looking at eh?" she asked, she moved her gaze from her son, before glancing back at him. "Stop it" she warned, his eyes fixed firmly on his mother. "What?" she asked, as he began to whimper softly, "come on" she sighed, reaching into the buggy and stroking his stomach. His whimpers turned into loud screams, and Jac rummaged in the changing bag before pulling out a dummy and putting it in her son's mouth, sighing as it failed to stop him screaming. "What's wrong?" she asked, her son red in the face from screaming, his hands screwed tightly into fists by his head, "I fed you half an hour ago, you were changed before we left the house, what's wrong?" Jac carried on walking for a few minutes before admitting defeat, "enough" she said, lifting her son from his pushchair and covering him in his blanket, surprising herself as she managed to push the buggy and rock her son as she walked. "Was all that because I wasn't paying you attention?" she asked, her son calming in her arms, as he snuggled into her chest.

"You're going to have to go back in here" she told him as she reached the shop, I need to buy some food, and I don't want you thinking you're going to be carried everywhere." Jac was surprised to find herself filling her basket with ready meals, too tired to even consider cooking herself a decent meal, "Look what you're doing to me" she chuckled, stroking her son's stomach as she hung the bags on the buggy, smiling softly as she watched his eyes slowly close.

Her son was almost three weeks old before Jac started calling her son anything other than Elvis. After making an appointment to register his birth, she took out her phone and typed out a message, sending it before she had chance to change her mind. 'I'm registering his birth at 2.30 on Friday. If you want your name on his birth certificate you'll have to meet me outside the town hall a 2.15' Oliver's reply came within seconds, 'I'll be there'.

Friday came quickly, Oliver smiled as he saw Jac walking towards him, a large changing bag over her shoulder, the baby in her arms. "Jac" he smiled, "you look well. Is this him?" Jac rolled her eyes, "No, this is just another child I keep in the wardrobe, bring him out for special occasions." She said sarcastically. Oliver shook his head, "sorry, sorry, can I hold him?" Jac shook her head, "he's just fallen asleep, I don't want to wake him" Oliver nodded, and followed Jac into the town hall.


	6. Chapter 6

"Mother's name?" "Jacqueline Samantha Naylor" "Father's name?" "Oliver William Valentine" "And the little one' name?" Oliver looked to Jac, "Ben, Benjamin William Naylor." "Thanks" Oliver smiled once they left the room, "William's been a family name for years.". Jac nodded, "Well we should be off then" "Please." Oliver grabbed Jac's arm, "Can we go for coffee or something? We need to talk." Jac nodded, Oliver had turned up to have his name put on Ben's birth certificate, and he'd not been late, he'd proved himself to her. "There's a coffee shop down the road, let me get his buggy out of the car." Oliver nodded and smiled, following Jac to her car. "Here" she held out Ben towards him, "hold him while I get the buggy out." Oliver took the small baby in his arms holding him tightly to his chest. "Hello you." He cooed. Jac smiled, watching Oli rock Ben as he woke, trying to settle him. "Here" she searched the changing bag and her pockets before finding a dummy, putting it momentarily in her mouth and passing it to Oli, "he might need this". Oli smiled, Ben settling once the dummy was in his mouth. "Do you want to put him in here or do you want to carry him?" Oliver's face lit up, "Can I carry him?" Jac nodded, slinging the changing bag over the handles of the buggy, before walking in silence beside Oli.

"When are you next free?" Jac broke the silence, rocking the buggy as Ben began to whimper. "Erm, I've got Tuesday off" Jac nodded, "do you want to come and see him?" Oliver's face lit up, "I'd love to" he grinned, as Ben's whimpers became loud screams, his fists clenched by his head, his knees pulled up to his chest. "Someone needs changing" Jac sighed, standing from her chair. "I'll do it" Jac was shocked, "sure?" Oli nodded and lifted Ben from his buggy, "sure" he smiled, holding out his hand for the changing bag.

Jac watched Oliver as he was pointed in the direction of the toilets by a helpful waitress. "All clean" Oli informed Jac as he handed her first Ben and then the changing bag. They arranged for Oliver to visit later in the week, Jac scribbling her address down on the back of the receipt before telling Oliver she and Ben were going home, "He'll be getting ready for a feed soon" she explained as she covered Ben with a blanket and began to walk back to her car.

"I need a favour" Jac asked quietly when Oli came to see Ben later in the week, still not being used to asking for anyone's help. Oli nodded, "I want to get him a swing, I've seen the one I want to get but I can't take him and carry the swing, if I give you the money will you fetch it or me?" Oliver shook his head, "I mean I'll fetch it, but you don't need to give me the money for it, I'll buy it for him". Jac shook her head, "I can't ask you to do that" Oli sighed, "You haven't asked, and he's my son, you've bought him everything, let me get him this." "It's £80" Oli sighed, he knew she wouldn't give in, "at least let me go halves on it with you." Jac looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding in agreement, "okay." She walked over to the cabinet, Ben nestled in the crook of her elbow she picked up a catalogue, passing Ben to Oli before beginning to flick through the pages. "That one" she told him pointing to the brown and beige swing. Oliver nodded, "and where's it from?" he asked. "Mamas and Papas". Oliver nodded, "I'll bring it round later in the week."

Jac answered the door a few days later, Ben in her arms feeding happily. "Oh, I was expecting Oliver." Penny nodded, "Mrs Beauchamp wanted him in theatre, she wouldn't take no for an answer, he asked me to bring this round" she gestured to the large box in front of her. Jac nodded and let Penny into her house, "Just leave that there" she nodded. Penny put the box in the hallway and followed Jac into the living room, "can I get you a drink or anything?" Penny shook her head, "no, no I'm fine" Jac finished feeding Ben before winding him and holding him out to Penny, "do you want to meet your nephew?" Penny couldn't help but smile as she held her arms out, "hello you" she stroked his nose as he snuggled into her chest. Jac sat watching Penny coo over her nephew for a while, "I'm going to put that swing together if you're okay with him. Penny nodded, "he's nodding off, I could give you a hand if you like?" Jac smiled, wondering why she'd never given the young woman a chance before. "Thanks". Penny laid Ben in his buggy in the hallway before helping Jac with the swing. They were almost finished when Ben began to whimper, and Jac moved to stand up, "I'll go" Penny suggested, before adding, "if you don't mind." Jac smiled and shook her head, "I'll finish this off." Jac slotted the canopy onto the swing and sat back, smiling as she heard Penny speaking softly to her son, "hey sleepyhead" she smiled as she lifted him from his buggy, kissing his head as she held him to her chest, "are you going to come and see what mummy's got for you?" Jac smiled as Penny carried Ben into the room, taking him from Penny's arms she strapped him carefully into the swing, before turning it on, "do you like that?" she asked, running her fingers over her son's stomach. Penny glanced at her watch, "Oli said he'd come round when he was done, he'll be here soon, I should get off." Jac looked puzzled , "Have the two of you had an argument?" Jac asked. Penny nodded, her eyes filling with tears, "It's a long story." Jac didn't know whether it was the lack of adult company, or a genuine sympathy for the young woman, but she couldn't stop herself saying "I've got plenty of time".


End file.
